Are Zoo Shows Educational?

Are Zoo Shows Educational? 

 

                On the November 28, 2010 episode of 24 Oras, they featured the Davao Crocodile Center, a zoo in Davao. It was shown that the staffs of the Davao Crocodile Center were encouraging people to pet the animals which included birds, crocodile, and a snake. This situation is not unique to Davao Crocodile Center but is a common practice on other zoos also. The intention, which was to educate and make people love wild animals is good. However, good intentions may not always give good results. The reason I am saying this is that I remember an episode on TV where a woman climbed over a barricade to take a close-up photo of a cuddly polar bear. The bear grabbed the woman to tear her and the woman panicked for help. She was rescued but badly wounded. After that, was an interview of a sociologist describing that it happened because wild animals were described on TV and zoos as cuddly and can be petted. He said that it should be discouraged and wild animals should always be treated as wild and should be left in the wild. Then a video clip of people near the cuddly walruses was shown. The walruses were in the beach which is their natural habitat, and the people were taking photographs as souvenirs neglecting the dangers of getting ran over by the walruses which sometimes chased them.
                Now, going back to the zoo, and without discussing the maltreatment against animals, we can see that they are encouraging people to pet the wild animals. Is that the right way to educate and make people love animals? Are there no better way to make people realize the importance of wild animals?
                Here is the video of the woman and the polar bear, but this is a different TV show, <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wGbCNDw-m0>. And I am sorry I cannot find the video of the walruses and the sociologist.